The following documents relate to particular issues that arise in psychotherapy practice, psychotherapy education, and supervision. Although each focuses on particular topics, the principles raised are often applicable to other topic areas as well.
Different Ways of Knowing: The Complexities of Therapist Disclosure (Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 2010)
This article offers a discussion of complexities associated with the unintentional disclosure of a therapist’s sexual orientation to a client in ongoing psychotherapy. A case involving a lesbian therapist and a heterosexually married woman with a female lover is described and discussed. The case highlights the distinction between overt and dialogic communications between a client and therapist.
Liberating Psychotherapy: Liberation Psychology and Psychotherapy with LGBT Clients (Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 2010, Russell & Bohan)
This paper suggests that neither science nor psychotherapy can be separated from values, and it calls on the insights of liberation psychology to examine the role of the social and the political in understandings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) experiences.
Homophobia in the Supervisory Relationship: An Invisible Intruder (Psychoanalytic Review, 1997, Russell & Greenhouse)
This article explores the role of social issues in the private relationship between therapist and supervisor. More specifically, it examines the variations in and impact of homophobia on the supervisory relationship.
Internalized Classism: The Role of Class in the Development of Self (Women & Therapy, 1996)
Internalized classism is the process by which a person’s experience as a member of the poor or working class becomes internalized and influences the individual’s self-concept and self-esteem as well as relationships with others. Internalized classism, often not recognized by clients or therapists, may be manifested in a variety of ways in psychotherapy. Active clinical attention to internalized classism can carry significant benefits for people with poor or working class backgrounds.